Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Who Needs Fiction or Bad Strategy?

You know the oft quoted maxim from The Art of War by Sun Tzu, "Know yourself and know your enemy and you will be victorious in 100 battles" or something like that? The collory is not to pick a fight with someone who's capabilities you don't know.

One day, shortly after he first came to the US in the 70s, Kushida Sensei was locking up the old Detroit Dojo which was in a really bad neighborhood in Detroit. He's there, locking up the door in the alley when this guy comes up to him and tries to rob him. That is, this guy with a knife decides he's going to mug this Japanese guy who is in his prime, who is the size of a small mountain, and locking up a martial arts school.

Well, Kushida Sensei's idea of "making harmony" wasn't quite as ... evolved as it would become in later years. His assailant ended up in the hospital for a while. Kushida Sensei felt bad about busting him up and visited him every day, brought flowers, etc.

The harmony thing worked out though. The bad guy took the opportunity of having some "down time" to think about his life and ended up becoming a minister who worked to improve the neighborhood he once prowled.

“Justin” is 6 feet 2, 250 pounds, with a build that looks like it could split open a suit jacket during a particularly violent sneeze.

But the mixed martial arts expert from Des Plaines insists it was his “training,” not brawn, that allowed him to wrench a loaded pistol from the hand of an alleged mugger who had the weapon pointed at his chest Friday night on the Southwest Side.

“I don’t feel like a hero,” said Justin, who did not want his last name used. “Training matters. If you’re well trained, you have a chance to survive.”

Anthony Miranda’s bruised and battered face — and Justin’s unblemished, chiseled one — leaves no doubt about who came out the victor in the encounter.